Tentacle (Small)

Introduction: Tentacle (Small)

This is a prototype project that I'll hopefully be refining through out time to make on a larger scale!

Please enjoy!

Materials:

Air tubing

Foam Board or Carboard

Tape (I used electrical)

Fishing Line

Potentiometers

Servos

Arduino Board + Wires

Step 1: Step 1: Cut Airline Tubing

The first step is to determine how large you want the tentacle to be.

The airline tubing can be either short and long, but consider the strength of the servo you have. If your servo is weaker, it may not be able to handle a longer piece of air tube!

Step 2: Cut Out Foam Board Circles

The next step is to cut out circles from your foam board / card board.

This will be act as the "joints" for the tentacle, that will be pulled by the fishing line later one.

The number of circles you need depends on the length of your air tubing you cut in the previous step. An inch between each circle is good spacing, but its up to you and your materials.

Step 3: Make Holes in Foam Board Circles

After you cut out your circles, your want to cut holes in them. The main hole is in the center of each circle. This is where the air tubing will go through. When making these holes, make sure they are large enough to fit the air tubing but not to large where they will slip and slide on the air tubing.

When making these holes in your circles, make sure they line up together so the air tubing can line up properly!

Step 4: Cut Your Fishing Line

The next step is to cut your fishing line. This is what the servos will pull at in order to move the tentacle. The fishing line should be longer then your air tubing and the number of pieces you need depends on the number of servos.

If you have more powerful servos, you can have two pieces of fishing line attached to one servo, but if its a weaker one perhaps only attach one piece of fishing line.

Step 5: Make More Holes in Foam Board!

We are going to make more holes in our foam board, but this time its for the fishing line. These holes are best made with very thin objects, like needles.

The number of holes you need depends on how many pieces of fishing line you cut in the previous step. The hole should be on the perimeter of your circles, but not so close to the edge that the board becomes weak.

Also, make note of the distance between each hole you make around the perimeter and make sure it is somewhat equal.

To make the process somewhat easier, you can stack multiple circles on top of each other when poking the holes, thus guaranteeing that they line up in the end!

Step 6: Put the Pieces Together

The next step is to put all the pieces together. First, put the circles onto the air tubing.

After the circles are where you want them, pull the pieces of fishing line you cut previously into the holes on the perimeter of the circles you made prior.Also, to keep the circles in place if they are shifting around, is to use come kind of tape (I used electrical tape) and tape it to the air tubing!

In order to keep the fishing line in place, it is a good idea to tie notes in the fishing line where you see fit. The top circles, and bottom circle are a must though!

Step 7: Tie Fishing Line to Servos & Attach Servos to Tentacle

This step is pretty self explanatory.

Feed the remainder of the fishing line through the holes on the top of the servo gears. You can wrap the remainder of the fishing line around the gear to add more tension.

Make sure there is a good amount of tension between the servo and the tentacle, or else it wont be able to move!

To attach the servos to the tentacle, I used electrical tape, and attached it in a way that made sure there was enough tension!

Step 8: The Code!

Here is the code you'll need. Alterations should be made, depending on how many servos you chose to have: